ON THE 



VALUE OF ARTIFICIAL MANURES. 



IF there ever was a time when the agriculturist had need to 

 exercise especial caution in purchasing artificial manures, that 

 time is the present ; for the practice of adulterating standard 

 artificial fertilizers, such as guano, superphosphate of lime, 

 nitrate of soda, &c., has reached an alarming point. 



The increasing demand for these manures, their inadequate 

 supply, the general favour in which artificial fertilizers are now 

 held by farmers, the deficiencies of natural sources from which 

 a really valuable manure can be prepared; disregard for the 

 difference of the practical effects of a manure and its real money- 

 value ; the difficulty of arriving in a single season at a positive 

 conclusion with regard to its efficacy, and other similar circum- 

 stances, are fruitful causes of the shameful adulterations in arti- 

 ficials of recognised value, and of the many inferior or worthless 

 new compounds which are found in the manure-market at the 

 present time. Some artificial manures are actually sold and 

 bought at double or triple the price which they are worth. This 

 is especially the case with certain saline compound manures. 

 Some of these manures contain 30 to 40 per cent, of water, 

 notwithstanding their dry appearance, which is easily accounted 

 for by the fact that many salts in crystallising bind 50 per cent., 

 or even more, water. A large quantity of a useless material 

 thus remains concealed in the saline compound, into the com- 

 position of which such salts largely enter, and thereby its value 

 is greatly diminished. 



It is well known, moreover, to all who have watched the state 

 of the manure-market how easily testimonials can be obtained 

 even from high agricultural authorities, notwithstanding the com- 

 parative inferiority of the manure. Indeed, the dealer or manu- 

 facturer has so many chances to reap a large profit for a season 

 from the sale of an all but worthless article that it is not sur- 

 prising to find so many unscrupulous persons engaged in a 

 course of fraudulent pursuits. Whilst thus on the one hand the 

 unsuspecting farmer is swindled out of his money, and runs the 

 risk of losing his crops too ; on the other hand, enterprising, 

 well-qualified, and honest persons are deterred from employing 

 their capital, energy, and skill in an undertaking which, under 

 more favourable conditions, could not fail to benefit alike the 



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